AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA REGARDING UNPAID MAIZE DELIVERIES

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA REGARDING UNPAID MAIZE DELIVERIES

Dear President Hakainde Hichilema,

I hope this email finds you well; if not, I wish you good health.

Mr President, the transition of power under your leadership was heralded by immense hope, particularly within the agricultural sector.

As a successful farmer yourself, you campaigned on a steadfast promise to prioritize and uplift the welfare of the Zambian farmer, recognizing agriculture’s critical role in national food security and economic diversification.

One of the expectations, Mr President, was that the New Dawn administration would ensure prompt and fair compensation for maize delivered to national grain reserve – the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), especially during the crucial post-harvest period.

However, the current reality, characterized by significant and protracted delays in paying farmers who supplied their maize in July, has sown deep seeds of disappointment and threatens to undermine the very trust upon which your administration was elected.

The failure to pay farmers has severe ramifications. The disappointment felt by the farming community stems directly from the perceived betrayal of electoral promises. Farmers invested their capital, labour, and time based on the assurance that their output would be remunerated efficiently. When these payments stall months after delivery, the impact is not merely financial; it is systemic to the next farming cycle.

Mr President, for a smallholder farmer, the funds from the maize sale are the primary source of working capital needed for inputs such as fertilizer, quality seeds, and labour for the subsequent planting season. Late payments directly translate into delayed preparation, reduced input quality, and ultimately, lower yields in the next harvest. This vicious cycle created by your administration risks pushing viable farming operations toward collapse, contradicting the administration’s stated goal of transforming agriculture into a prosperous sector.

The delay suggests a fundamental disconnect between the policy rhetoric emanating from your government and the operational realities faced by those on the ground whose livelihoods depend on timely cash flow.

Mr President, a significant component of the current crisis is the alarming lack of transparency regarding the actual status of funds intended for farmer payments.

When questioned about the delays, government narratives have appeared inconsistent, at times shifting the burden of responsibility onto the financial institutions or banks. This tendency to accuse commercial banks of failing to execute payments is problematic, particularly when juxtaposed against clear statements from the Bankers’ Association of Zambia (BAZ.

Mr President, the BAZ has explicitly challenged the government to name the specific banks that have received the allocated funds, asserting that once the money is released by the paying authority, the transfer process to farmers takes a mere two days. This public refutation by the banking sector strongly implies that the bottleneck resides within the government’s disbursement mechanism, not the commercial banking infrastructure.

Mr President, the government’s failure to provide clear, verifiable timelines and transparent accounting for the delayed payments erodes public trust faster than almost any other administrative failing. Farmers require certainty to plan; opaque financial processes breed speculation and foster the perception that the administration is either incompetent in managing these crucial transactions or deliberately obfuscating the facts.

Given the evidence presented by the BAZ, the narrative blaming banks appears less like a genuine explanation and more like an attempt to deflect accountability from the executive branch responsible for authorizing and releasing these substantial public funds.

For the credibility of the New Dawn administration to be restored within this vital sector, an unreserved public apology is warranted.

This apology must be coupled with a concrete, time-bound action plan detailing when every outstanding kwacha will reach the intended recipient.

Mr President, the delayed payment for maize supplied in July represents a critical juncture for your commitment to the agricultural sector. The economic hardship imposed upon farmers who diligently fulfilled their obligations must be rectified immediately. Beyond payment, the administration must address the systemic issue of non-transparency, which has allowed blame to be misdirected toward the banking sector without substantiation. Moving forward, genuine partnership with farmers demands accountability, clear communication regarding fund flow, and the swift delivery of dues.

Only through decisive action and a transparent admission of failure regarding these delays can your administration begin to repair the significant trust deficit currently afflicting the very community it pledged to champion.

Yours Sincerely
Given